FB: Digvijaya disapproves police action

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Last Updated: Tue, Nov 20, 2012 10:46 hrs

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday said he disapproves of the action taken by the Mumbai Police as they arrested two girls for making a comment on social networking site Facebook that questioned the shutdown in Mumbai for Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray's funeral.

"I have been victim of vulgar abuses on Social Media still I disapprove of the action taken by Mumbai Police on an innocent remark by a girl," Singh tweeted.

"Condemn the goons attack on her Uncle´s clinic. Interpretation of postings on Social Media shouldn´t be left to Police Inspectors," he posted on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Two girls were arrested in Maharashtra´s Thane district over the Facebook comment.

Shaheen Dhada was arrested on Sunday for posting a comment against the shutdown, while another girl was arrested for ´liking´ it.

The girls were later granted bail.

Shiv Sena workers vandalised an orthopaedic hospital of Dhada´s uncle on Sunday after she posted the comment.

Nine persons have been arrested for vandalizing the hospital, said reports.

However, the Shiv Sena defended the police action of arresting two girls.

They said any comments against Bal Thackeray will not be tolerated.

"Balasaheb Thackeray is our God. We will not tolerate any offensive comments against him. No Shiv Sainik and no Marathi Manoos will remain silent. The police knows who was behind the Facebook comment. The arrest is justified," Shiv Sena´s Thane rural district head Prabhakar Raul told CNN-IBN.

Pertinently, the post that sparked a controversy said instead of shutting down Mumbai for Thackeray´s death, "We should remember Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev - two martyrs of India's independence."

The arrests were made under Section 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The girls were arrested after a Shiv Sena leader filed a complaint against them.

Thackeray died on Saturday after battling ailments for days, ending an era in Maharashtra and national politics in course of which many opposed to his functioning struggling to come to terms with his brand of firebrand nationalism. He was 86.